The dog in question was mated in dec she is a maiden bitch but the stud dog is proven and all have the tests done for there breed and really good  condition. Now the problem we have is she was palpated by our vet at 26 days  who over the years has done this a few times for us and always been right, we took her for a scan on day 33 (today is day 34 from last mating or 42 days from the first mating)and he could not find anything on the scan now do you think the scan was to early as we have only ever had scans 2 times before but never with this vet as they are new to my area,
she is showing all signs that she is in whelp she is being really clingy following me everywhere and  sleeping alot but has started to pick up a bit today, she has been off her food for about 5 days she is eating but not her normal amount, she was sick for a few days early on in the pregnancy just yellow liquid. she is being really protective of her area where she sleeps but only with my other dogs not us.
her belly is starting to feel firmer but her rib cage seems wider so was thinking if there was anything it may of been hiding if there is only a few and her teats are bigger and starting to go a bit saggy near her rear end but no milk. her vulva is still bigger than normal i have not seen any discharge but she is always cleaning her self.

any advice would be great I am stumped i am usually very sure by now but we have only had 6 or more pups in  our litters so if she is only having 1 or 2 would she not show as much she is  just over 15 kg

they are most definitely not always right. do a search about  reliability of scanning in the bottom search bar. people have been told bitch is empty then has whelped 7 pups etc

My bitch was scanned on Tuesday (day 29) and we could clearly see the puppies. As Tanya has said, though, sometimes the vets can misdiagnose. Pups have been born when the vet said there was nothing there.

> her vulva is still bigger than normal

This is the ONE sign that has never been wrong for me.
good luck :)

You could do a relaxin blood test - if its positive she is in whelp if negative she is not. Relaxin is only produced if the bitch is pregnant, wouldn't use the test under 28 days as it can be unreliable in early pregnancy.

K

thank you all, i was thinking about the Relaxin blood test but i was told that if she was having a small litter then it could still be negative is this right?,
i do agility and if she is not in whelp and having a phantom would like to start going back as soon as possible, think i may phone my vet tomorrow to see what they say or suggest as dont want to go back for another scan as they did not seem that confident about the scan.

The test can give a negative with a small litter but if done after 28 weeks I would expect a reliable result even with a small litter. The only time I have had a false negative was tested early 22 days.

K

thank you will give my vet a ring tomorrow to see about this test.

> i do agility and if she is not in whelp and having a phantom would like to start going back as soon as possible

If she is carrying up under the ribcage (mine do) I wouldn't want to be thinking of agility to be honest.

The test can give a negative with a small litter but if done after 28 weeks I would expect a reliable result even with a small litter. The only time I have had a false negative was tested early 22 days.

I hope you mean DAYS.....lol.

I think you will just have to be prepared and wait .

Hi aussiedogs is there any news????

well took her back to the vets did a scan and said they are unsure and suggested not to go back to agility until really sure, Her normal temp is 38.3 but over last few days has been going up and down between 37.7 and 37.9 yesterday morning it was 37.4 but went back up to 37.7 last night and is the same this morning. She is 59 days from first mating so am keeping a very close eye on her just in case.

well we are still unsure am still taking her temp and we are on day 61 from last mating and 64 from first, her temps over the last couple of days have been up and down
her normal temp is 38.3 and has slowly dropped over last 2 weeks until today,
day 59 last
37.8, 37.5, 37.6.
day 60
37.8, 37.7, 37.8

then today it has been 38.2 all day will take it again tonight she is sleeping with us at the moment so i can keep a eye on her she is off her food and has not eaten all day and has not really eaten anything since yesterday morning so am going to try and get her to eat some pilchards see if that can tempt her.

do dogs that are having phantoms still have these range is temps?

as like i have said we are still unsure but she is till showing us signs just not got a large belly, i have only seen dogs pregnant with large litters 6 or more  and she is defiantly larger than normal when laid down or sat and ribs look larger as well.

over last 2 days my male dog has been very interested in her and trying to mount her so have separated them as she very unhappy as you can imagine with him trying to mount her, today will be day 63 from last mating but someone told me that if she is only having 1 or 2 she may go as late as 68 days ?
All the litters i hvae known have been 6 or more and have been born from day 58 to 63 so never had to think about it.

this is driving me mad now lol

i will be taking her the vet the end of the week just to be sure every thing is ok she ate some food last night but not alot. she is not losing weight so not worried yet.

Sometimes, small litters are not enough to trigger labour. If you suspect something is there then I would have her at the vets asap. If you boy is interested she may have an infection. so I would get her to the vets also

took her to the vets yesterday evening and he said that he thinks he could feel something (1) but he could not be sure and said if nothing has happened by tomorrow then to take her back, well about a hour ago we had some digging and some clear/white discharge, took her temp this morning at 9 it was 37.6 and was the same at 12 (her usual temp is 38.3)but got very upset at 2 when i tried to take it again  and she has always been fine with it so am hoping something is happening will keep you all updated.

Hopefully things are on the move then!

Ah hope there is something there.

yeah am keeping a close eye on her she fast a sleep at the moment but keeps waking up and digging then going back to sleep.

any news?